Adventures in Southern Seas eBook

The city of Porne, in which King Thedori reigns as
paramount chief, consists of twenty thousand houses,
all of which are low-built cabins. Some of the
men who inhabit these dwellings have such long ears
that they reach down to their shoulders, and when
we expressed surprise at this, we were assured that
on an island, not far off, there were men who had
such large ears, that with one ear they could, when
they liked, cover the whole of their heads. But
Hartog disbelieved this story, nor would he visit
the island when this prodigy was offered to be shown
to him. We were not in, search of monsters, he
said, but of treasure.

We had been informed by one of the merchants at Amsterdam
that when we should come to the island of Solo, one
of the group of the Molucca Islands, we would find
pearls as large as clove’s eggs, but Thedori
did not encourage us when we hinted to him our desire
to possess some of these marvels. They were only
to be found, he said, in very deep water, and this
was not the season to obtain them. We decided
not to press the matter, since we desired to leave
a favourable impression, but Hartog promised himself
a return visit, when, should friendly overtures prove
of no avail, an appeal, might be made to the King’s
better judgment with the aid of our six guns and brass
bowchaser. It is certain that pearls of great
size do exist on these islands. The King wore
one in his crown the size of a hen’s egg.

On our first night in harbour at the Molucca Islands
we witnessed the most remarkable display I have ever
beheld. The islands are well wooded, and amongst
the trees by night, through the whole island, did
show themselves an infinite swarm of fiery worms flying
in the air, whose bodies, being no larger than common
house-flies, made such a show and light as if every
twig or tree had been a burning candle. In the
dark recesses of the woods, also, appeared wonderful
black bats, with red eyes, of which the inhabitants
of this country stand in considerable dread.
The bats are thought to be the spirits of departed
kings, and none are allowed to molest them.

From the security of our vessel, which lay close to
the shore, we were able to view these marvels without
danger, but the natives remained in their huts, afraid
to venture forth, so that nocturnal dances, or meetings
at camp fires, were here conspicuous by their absence.

We now met with an adventure that was destined to
influence our future in a manner we did not, at the
time, foresee, or it is doubtful but we would have
hesitated before granting an asylum to the miserable
fugitive from King Thedori’s tyranny, who now
came aboard. Pedro de Castro, the name of this
refugee, a Spaniard, informed us that for some time
past he had been held as hostage by Thedori. Three
years before our visit to the Moluccas, so ran his
tale, a Spanish vessel, of which de Castro was first
officer, had called at the islands. The captain
and crew had been well received by the King, who had